


Autumn Colors

by Pegaltan



Category: Haikyuu!!, 鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime), 鬼滅の刃 | Kimetsu no Yaiba (Manga)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22419214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pegaltan/pseuds/Pegaltan
Summary: History comes calling and suddenly, Interhigh becomes the least of Daichi’s worries.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 42





	Autumn Colors

“No.”

Daichi froze, stuck between pulling his shoes off and announcing that he was home. Practice had ended early. The twins were at their swimming lesson. He thought he could come home and maybe help his mom with chores—to make up for the training camp that was planned in spring. He hadn’t known they were expecting guests.

“Kenjuuro is dead. That’s five pillars without successors. We are stretched thin as it is. I’m being called back to Kyoto and Touka, I will not be able to offer protection.

“Good.” His mom said with a note of finality. “We don’t need your type of protection. If it weren’t for you, my nephew would be alive.”

Daichi was confused. He didn’t know he had a cousin.

“That is very unkind of you.”

“It is the truth.”

Curiosity got the better of him and he got down to his knees. He crept forward, almost on his belly, hoping to catch a glimpse of his mother and their mystery guest. It was stupid. He was being stupid. He could have just gone in and exchanged pleasantries like a normal person. But something in his mom’s voice gave him a pause. He’d never heard her sound like that before. Ever.

It wasn’t fear or else he would have called the cops. It didn’t sound like they were dealing with a loan shark or a debt collector. Their family was so far removed from crime that the thought was laughable. But.

“The truth is that your son will be safer with me.”

“Absolutely not, Daichi is a child.”

Daichi pouted indignantly. He was _seventeen_.

“Were you so much older when you picked up the sword?”

“That was different. It was a different time. At any rate, we both know what happened.”

He stopped when they stopped talking.

Finally, their guest sighed and said, “It was good seeing you again Touka. I will see myself out.”

 _Shit_ —Daichi scrambled to his feet and as he did, he stepped on his shoelaces and tripped. Their guest caught him, pushing him up by his shoulders. Their guest was tall, very tall, a silvery scar tracing his jaw. “Did you hear?” The man asked gently.

Daichi flushed at being caught and nodded, not trusting his voice.

The hands fell away from his shoulders.

“May I?”

He nodded again, unsure as to what he was agreeing to. Fingers curled behind his left ear and Daichi pulled away with a yelp. The man held a hair between his fingers. It was a sort of yellow-gold color tipped in red.

“Daichi!” His mom came rushing up from behind them. “You’re home!”

“Mom.” Daichi breathed a sigh of relief. “Ow mom.” He protested when he was tugged into the house by the straps of his gym bag.

“Daichi was it? Well met.”

“Yamamoto.” His mom looked pinched. Lines ran tight from her lips as she sucked in her cheeks. “Please leave.”

“Aah,” Yamamoto agreed. Daichi shrank under his knowing gaze. “Remember, please don’t go out after dark.”

At dinner, his mother fussed over him more than usual. He got a double helping of rice and his dad casually asked if he’d forgotten to tell them about a school trophy. His sisters began to cheer.

“Does this mean we get to go out for dinner?”

“Oh, oh, can we go to Freshness?”

Daichi was long used to glimpses if autumn in his hair. If he had been less of an obedient son, he might have let the colors grow out to see what they looked like. But he took a bottle of black dye from under the bathroom sink and touched up the roots, taking extra care behind his ears.

He wanted to ask his mom who their guest was. But she had looked so strained and unhappy that in the end he couldn’t. He absentmindedly ran his fingers through his damp hair and scowled as his hand came off black. What kind of a Japanese boy had red and yellow hair anyway?

Next morning, he set out early. He had to open up the court for practice. He paused when he saw that it was still dark out, streetlights barely illuminating the dark corners. He remembered Yamamoto’s warnings and shrugged.

The sun would be up soon. If it was really important, his mom would have mentioned something.

It was cold. His breath came out in little puffs that dissipated into the air. He brought a mitted hand to where Yamamoto had plucked a hair and rubbed. He wondered, who was Kenjuuro? Why hadn’t he known about his cousin?

How did his cousin die?

Daichi stopped. He was being watched.

“Oh.” There were two men waiting on top of a fence. Only, they weren’t really on top of the fence. They were floating a good foot off the slate tiles. Like mononoke hoping to lure travelers lost in the dark. Or cosplayers who had gotten lost on their way to the comic-con.

Daichi didn’t watch too much anime. Volleyball was his life. He couldn’t have named the pair or who they were pretending to be but he could tell that they didn’t belong.

Anywhere.

The hairs on his neck stood on end. He knew he had made a mistake.

“Hmm, this one isn’t colorful as the other one. Are you sure?”

He took an inadvertent step backwards and the men’s eyes, whirling like a cracked marble, turned predatory.

“Found you Rengoku.”

**Author's Note:**

> Satoshi Hino (Hino Satoshi) does voice acting for both Daichi and Rengoku Kyojuuro in Kimetsu No Yaiba. The thought here is that everyone in the Rengoku family is born with their trademark red-and-yellow hair. Daichi's mom dyed her hair to go into hiding. She dyed Daichi's hair to protect him. Not sure about the twins hmm.


End file.
